What is your favourite (Top 3 even)Pink Floyd CD and why (not a poll) (1 Viewer)

[Sebastian_M]

Just what the title says. What is your Top 3 favourite Pink Floyd albums and why? This isn't a poll because you have to explain what's great about them and hopefully this will start a great discussion.
1. Wish You Were Here
This plays like a symphony. Absolutely mesmerising. All the songs are fantastic and the production on the record is great. Favourite song from this album, a tie between all of them, there is no clear best song on this album, I think its that good.
2. Animals
One word to sum up this entire album:
Inspired
Listening to the solos on the songs (Dogs especially) you get the feeling that something higher than you wrote this music. The lyrics are fantastic and the parallel thoughts with George Orwell's "Animal Farm" are great. Favourite song on the album, tie between "Dogs" and "Pigs (Three different ones).
3. The Wall
Most people rank this as their number 1 Floyd album. I prefer the above two but that is no insult. This too plays like one piece of music. The movie is great also as are the lyrics in the album. Favourite song in the album, "Comfortably Numb". Not an easy choice, but I love that song.
What does everyone else think?
Seb
------------------
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

 

[Fredrik E]

1. Meddle
A masterpiece, excellent sound quality.
2. A Saucerful Of Secrets.
3. Wish You Were Here.
4. The Final Cut.
Maybe A Saucerful Of Secrets should be #3, and WYWH should be #2...
These are the best Pink Floyd albums in my opinion. Dark Side Of The Moon sucks because of (in my opinion) bad sound quality, Animals sucks because it's too watered down, The Wall sucks because it's too commercial. I haven't listened to their other early albums yet, I'll buy them later...
[Edited last by Fredrik E on August 10, 2001 at 11:05 PM]

 

[Sebastian_M]

Fredrik,
Have you listened to the remastered DSOTM? It sounds very good in my opinion.
Seb
------------------
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

 

[MatS]

Check out Les Claypool's (Primus) "Fearless Flying Frog Brigade Live Frogs Set 2" (released August 7th). He covers the Animals record front to back.

[Edited last by MatS on August 10, 2001 at 11:17 PM]

 

[Fredrik E]

"Fredrik,
Have you listened to the remastered DSOTM? It sounds very good in my opinion."
No I haven't. I have the CD that was released around 1988.
Is it just me, or is it a lot of distorsion in this edition ? It sounds a lot "dirtier" than Wish You Were Here, in my opinion. Maybe that was intentional...
[Edited last by Fredrik E on August 10, 2001 at 11:21 PM]

 

[Sebastian_M]

I've listened to the Gold CD edition of WYWH and it sounds fantastic. I plan on buying it very soon although I'm not sure whether or not it is the same version as the Japanese Import in LP style packaging.
I have DSOTM on CD and record. The CD sounds better than the record (its a remaster), but the record still sounds very good. I suggest listening to the remastered edition.
Seb
------------------
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.
[Edited last by Sebastian_M on August 10, 2001 at 11:36 PM]

 

[Wayne Bundrick]

1. Animals
2. DSOTM
3. WYWH
I rank Animals #1 because "Dogs" absolutely rocks. This is Waters, Gilmour, Wright, and Mason at their very best, hitting on all cylinders. The guitar, the bass, the keyboards, the drums... all very tight.
My Frog Brigade CD is on its way, maybe it will show up tomorrow.

 

[Joe D]

1. The Wall, I like the operatic theme to it.
2. Animals, ahh, great stuff, I wish I could solo like that.
3. WYWH, great moody stuff, especially Shine on You Crazy Diamond, Part 1.
------------------
Joe Dahlen
"Take hold of the flame, you've got nothing to lose, but everything to gain."

 

[Brian Perry]

Alan Parsons won a grammy for his engineering of DSOTM, so I'd hardly say it sucks. From an audio standpoint it is considered rock and roll's second landmark recording (first being St. Pepper). It is not perfect (even Parsons says he wished the drums sounded better), but for a 1973 recording it is awesome.
That being said, The Wall is my favorite, followed by DSOTM and Animals.

 

[george kaplan]

My two favorites are The Wall and Dark Side of the Moon, because they are by far the most melodic.
------------------
13-time NBA world champion Lakers: 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1972, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001

 

[Sebastian_M]

I tallied everyone's top 3 albums and here they are:
1. Tied for first with 4 votes each are:
Animals
Wish You Were Here
The Wall
2. Dark Side of the Moon (3 votes)
3. Tied with one vote apiece are
Meddle
A Saucerful of Secrets
Seb
------------------
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

 

[Chris Brunner]

I have most of the original CD releases (the ones I like anyway).
Is it worth upgrading to the remasters. I'm very close to picking up Animals and WYWH, but I'm having a hard time justifying it. I listen to those two regularly and am not currently disappointed.
Sometimes, the remasters are spectacular, and sometimes not.
Good thread.
Thanks,
C

 

[tyler O]

1. Meddle and Atom Heart Mother
The end of the old with a 23 minute hint of what is to come. These both really get it not only for the opus that they have, self contained, but for the rest of the beautiful works contained that lead into and away from the two most perfect pieces of music ever written (Echoes and AHM).
2. UmmaGumma. The live disc is a masterpiece. The 4 getting to go off on their own thing for the other disc just starts to show the fracturing that eventually takes place with these 4 (Barrett notwithstanding)
3. The Wall. Storytelling and thematic masterpiece to the extreme.
Wait. I just realized I really can't do this. I have over 40 Floyd Discs in my collection (quite a bit live as you can surmise) and I just don't think I can do it. I mean, those 4 are my personal favorites, in order, but to say that WYWH is not up there is insulting (and the Gold disc is phenomenal and was well worth the money, FWIW IMHO), not to mention DSOTM, Animals, Final Cut... I could go on, but I am just getting depressed thinking of trying to narrow down to three. (As you can see I still cheated with 4)
------------------
Share and Enjoy - The marketing division of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation.

 

[Anthony Hom]

1. DOSTM (MFSL re-mastered)
If you ever get a clean copy of DSOTM record LP made by MFSL, this is so far the absolute best version (IMO) of that album. This version put this album back at the top for me. Hearing it on a great system with quality turntable and needle, it sounds and feels so crisp that I don't mind the occassional click. The remastered CDs in the 90s and even MFSL gold CD sound flat by comparison. I had not opened the LP until 7 years after I bought it. From what I hear, the sealed LP is worth over $100. Part of me regrets opening it, but after listening to it, it was so good, losing the value was worth it knowing how good how the record sounded personally.
2. WYWH (new remastered CD)
I can listen to this one over and over again. Comparing both the first CD and the recently remastered CD, it is an improvement, with less background noise.

 

[Sebastian_M]

Tyler,
Agreed, the Gold CD of WYWH is phenomenal! Hey, we both like 2001, and Pink Floyd?

I'm trying to get my favourite albums in their Japanese Import versions but its difficult to find them at a good price. Most places don't have them in stock. Even my "at cost" CD guy can only get them if I import them which is still pretty damn expensive.

What does everyone think of "A Momentary Lapse of Reason"? I'm listening to it right now, and other than "Learning to Fly", find that I don't like it that much. Its a little repetitive, but not in a good way like some of the other albums (WYWH, The Wall).
Seb
------------------
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

 

[Wayne Bundrick]

Momentary Lapse is the album that turned me on to Pink Floyd in 1987. Yep, I'm a relative newbie to Floyd fandom. Pink Floyd is the one band that I discovered I liked on my own, unlike all the other bands that I came to like due to the influence of family or friends.
I'll agree that many of the songs on the Momentary Lapse album are forgettable. However "Learning to Fly" is great. But my favorite song on that album, and one of my all time favorite Floyd songs, is the last song, "Sorrow". The long guitar solo in particular is the best Gilmour had done since "Comfortably Numb" and it's even better when it's performed live.
I've got a Japanese import CD of DSOTM on EMI/Harvest with the black label, and I'm not going to part with it. I'm also not going to part with my MFSL gold CD set of The Wall, which I bought on the day it was issued in '90 or '91.
P.S. I finally got my Frog Brigade CD and it rocks! On the original Floyd album I like "Dogs" best, but on Frog Brigade the performance on that song doesn't quite measure up to "Pigs" or "Sheep", on both of which Claypool & friends play with much more intensity.

 

[Sebastian_M]

Of course, how could I forget "Sorrow"? That and Learning to Fly are the two notable songs on AMLOR. The solo is great though, and Learning to Fly has great lyrics.
Seb

 

[Ken Stuart]

1) Another vote for Ummagumma Live Disk . As good as Floyd were in the studio, they were better live. This is one of the best disks of any sort, IMHO.
2) My CD-R burned from the Pink Floyd Live In Pompeii movie videotape. Some of the best guitar playing found anywhere. I prefer these versions of the Meddle material to the studio cuts. Possibly the best Floyd, period, and one of the best concert/music films.
3) More (soundtrack for the movie) includes terrific songs like Cirrus Minor, The Nile Song, and the beautiful Cymbaline.

It [DSoTM] is not perfect (even Parsons says he wished the drums sounded better), but for a 1973 recording it is awesome.

LOL !

This is amusing, because one of my audio teachers' claim to fame was that he did the drums on DSoTM.
BTW, the remastered DSoTM CD (XXth Anniversary Edition) is indeed mediocre sounding. Since it was done by a highly qualified audiophile engineer, we can only assume that the master tapes have deteriorated. The best sounding disk is the original UK Harvest CD that was made in Japan - these go for large sums in the collectors' market.

 

[Rich Malloy]

These get the most play for me:
1. Animals
2. WYWH
3. Ummagumma (both discs)
------------------
"Only one is a wanderer; two together are always going somewhere."

Link Removed
Al's Criterion Collection

 

[tyler O]

Re : Pompeii
I didn't count my laserdisc rip to cd-r as, again, it didn't quite fall into the album request (but then again, neither did my 4 fall into 3) This is so by far the most fantastic audio/video recording that I have ever had the true pleasure to watch. I wore out one video tape and am working on a second. (I never got into LD, too expensive, but a "friend" helped me put it onto CD (putting Echoes as one piece as well)) I still feel such anger at there not being a DVD out for it but... Sigh. Best way to quell said anger? Watch Pompeii.

Re : Momentary
I abhor this album. It is one of the most soulless (sp?) pieces of contrived crap which I have ever had the displeasure to listen to. I can just hear what went on. "Roger left and we have no true impetus to us. Why don't we plug in a formula and follow with beautiful sounding music with no real substance or soul to it? We'll sell millions and be able to tour after every album!" Sigh. (As you can see I count The Division Bell in this lump sum of crap) It's not that they necessarily aren't Floyd without the main member (that notion got disbanded after Barrett got the boot) it's just that the heart is not there. Too clean. To sterile. Not Floyd.
Re: MFSL CDs
I only have DSotM, Meddle and the Wall of the MFSL CDs, but they really do sound better, to me at least, than the remastered proper discs that came out relatively shortly after Shine On. (That includes those in Shine On as well.) Some of the best 30$ per Disc that I ever spent. Well, until DVDs came about that is.
Seb,
Have you tried the Jupiter (and beyond the infinite) part with Echoes? It doesn't match exactly, but it is rather neat. Perfection in synching doesn't seem to matter as it almost seems to have a bit of a delay buried in there.
Bleh. Thanks for indulging my rambling. Or not. It's all good.
------------------
Share and Enjoy - The marketing division of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation.